


Too

by Terinka



Category: One Piece
Genre: 2D3Y, First Kiss, Fluff, Introspection, Love Confessions, Luffy is clueless, M/M, Other Characters Are Mentioned, Post-Time Skip, Reunion, Zolu Month
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-31
Updated: 2019-12-31
Packaged: 2021-02-27 05:28:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,020
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22041829
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Terinka/pseuds/Terinka
Summary: “Ne, Zoro, my - my chest,” Luffy rubs the scar absentmindedly.Two years spent almost alone give Luffy a lot of things to think about, and he needs some answers as soon as he can...
Relationships: Monkey D. Luffy/Roronoa Zoro
Comments: 17
Kudos: 338





	Too

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys!  
> This is my third and last contribution to ZoLu Month. I started working on a different prompt but it was a wild ride full of Xmas, partying and my straying far from the original idea so...freestyle it is! 
> 
> Posting this on the last day of the year is pretty neat, too - I think it's a great way to finish the year! I only hope 2020 will bring more One Piece, Luffy and Zoro to everyone's lives! 
> 
> Till the next time, then!

At first, two years feel more like centuries to Luffy, back at Rusukaina. 

Under the starry sky, his crew often accompanies him in his dreams. He has no news about their whereabouts but believes that they are okay - well, as okay as they can be, considering all the mess they’ve been put through. In his dreams, he is sitting under Nami’s trees, asking Robin about an old-looking book she is reading, and helping Franky restock cola barrels. He is humming along Brook’s songs, playing tag with Usopp and Chopper, feasting on Sanji’s food, and watching Zoro napping on the warm deck. Or drinking sake. Or working out. 

The more dreams Luffy has, the more they blend into his days. Rayleigh’s training is hard, and he needs to be focused to learn it all as best as he can - after all, he needs to protect his crew and friends.  _ No more Marinefords, _ Luffy has promised to himself, right after Jinbe beat some sense into him. He trains every day and sometimes even at night, and when he doesn’t, he dreams. He shows the crew around, he introduces the animals he fights and who become his friends later on, he explains the ever-changing climate of the island. He talks to them and asks them hundred questions he’s definitely asked them before and a hundred more he needs to know  _ now _ and doesn’t want to wait  _ till _ they meet - there isn’t, never has been, an  _ if _ . 

Luffy finds himself talking to Zoro the most often. About things he’s done during the day, and about the crazy adventures that come to him at night, in his dreams, when he’s too tired to move a finger. What he doesn’t tell the dream Zoro is how much he misses the crew, and how much he sometimes feel like yelling angrily - especially those nights when the events of Thriller Bark, Sabaody and Marineford blend together and Luffy wakes up screaming, sweaty and breathing hard.

Thriller Bark is still partly a mystery to the captain. Luffy doesn’t know exactly what happened back there, at the giant ship full of zombies and shadows, in the very morning but he can take a guess. The last time he was conscious, before fainting, he was pretty sure Zoro’s condition wasn’t as bad as it was once Sanji found him. Sure, the swordsman usually didn’t mind getting injured in a fight, and if someone asked Luffy about it, he’d say Zoro smells like sake, naps and blood; but there was something odd about the damage the swordsman should have received. Luffy knows his nakama, and he couldn’t remember anyone or anything so strong being at the ship to have injured Zoro like that. Except…

There is one idea; Luffy shakes his head and tries to forget because it makes him angry and raises far more questions than it provides answers; he has no one to ask them here anyway. 

And so he doesn’t ask, but keeps thinking, and remembering. Luffy remembers when he first met Zoro; the first real battle against another pirate crew; the shared cup of tea after finally stuffing their stomachs full in Syrup village. He is sure he’s forgotten million more moments but every time he thinks of Zoro again, he feels warmer and more hopeful - and he knows there is probably something a little off about the way his heart beats just a little faster when he remembers their fight in Whiskey Peak; the way Zoro looked at him after Usopp left the crew at Water 7 and the support he showed to his captain. There's an odd feeling growing in Luffy's chest and he doesn't think he could blame Law for making mistakes while fixing him up. 

Luffy once tries to explain this turmoil to Rayleigh because he thinks Roger's former first mate is wise enough to understand everything; after all, Luffy is really grateful that the man is there with him, for him, helping him to get stronger. He actually starts the conversation one evening but doesn't get really far - to be honest, the only word Luffy says is 'Zoro' and then falls silent because  _ how do I even begin to explain it all? The feeling in my chest? The way my body is warmer? My heart beats faster? My stomach starts being all weird?  _

However, after a couple of quiet minutes spent watching Luffy thinking harder than Rayleigh has ever seen him, the old man just smiles and nods and Luffy thinks he  _ maybe _ understood everything. 

Time runs faster than it did at the beginning and soon Luffy is on Rusukaina alone, and then the last six months fly by and he's on the snake ship again, listening-but-not-really to whatever Hancock is saying because there's only one thought in Luffy's mind: his crew.  _ Okay, maybe two. My crew...and Zoro. _

The journey back seems way longer than when he was sent flying by Kuma, and Luffy wonders if he was unconscious at that time. He spends most of the time sitting on one of the snakes’ head, looking forward to whatever future might hold for him.  _ For them,  _ he corrects himself - he is sure they’ll all meet together in no time. 

\---

They all reach Sabaody and rewrite the bitter taste their previous visit to this archipelago left in their mouths for long two years. Sunny is waiting for them, glistening with the coating. After some initial misunderstandings (Luffy has to chuckle and scratch the back of his head; how could he have thought  _ those two _ were his nakama?) they finally reunite on the deck, and with some help from all the mysterious people who are oddly invested in making sure the Strawhats set sail they finally go - well, down. 

It’s another crazy adventure and something they haven’t done before - the Skypiea trip made them fly up above the clouds; now it’s time to sink. All the fish manage to catch Luffy’s attention for quite some time, the deeper they go the more bizarre creatures they discover, and the light from the sunny day gives way to the darkness of the ocean. It’s hard to say whether lunch or dinner should be served, but Luffy decides it doesn’t matter, really. 

Once Sanji calls them to the dining room, they find out it’s not a mere meal awaiting them - it’s a huge feast with new dishes and drinks galore, and nobody has an idea how on Earth Sanji has prepared everything in such a short time. The crew doesn’t have much time to think about the mystery, though, because the food starts disappearing into their captain’s bottomless stomach so fast they run to the table and try to grab at least a bit of everything for themselves. 

After the initial chaos dies down (and after a couple of well-aimed Nami’s punches, defending her plate from the stretching arms and grabby hands), the crew finally has some time to catch up. Mouth stuffed full, Luffy mostly listens, and occasionally wow’s or aww’s or laughs. He also cannot help but notice that amongst his nakama, Zoro keeps to his sake and has barely eaten anything. Maybe it’s the memories of all the food he snached from the swordsman in the past and never being punished for doing so, except for a reprimanding  _ Oi, Luffy _ and maybe a frown, that makes Luffy transfer a large part of his roast to Zoro’s empty plate. “This is Zoro’s.” 

His timing is really bad, as per usual, so he chooses a moment when Usopp finishes a story about some giant beetles and everyone pays attention to the food in front of them for a brief moment, and seeing their captain giving up some meat, _sharing_ _food,_ is so odd that Sanji drops the drinks he was about to give to the ladies. 

The sound of glass shattering breaks the spell. Zoro’s face turns pink and he growls something about everyone minding their own goddamn business and not staring at him, which doesn’t really help because it makes all of them look at the swordsman. The reddish hue from his cheeks reaches his ears, and despite the scary, one-eyed glare Luffy’s heart does the weird thing it did at Rusukaina. He decides on the spot that he might as well ask Zoro, as the older pirate is apparently the culprit, but he isn’t even given a chance to finish his idea. 

“Ne, Zoro, my - my chest,” Luffy rubs the scar absentmindedly, “There’s this weird thing my heart does and then sometimes also a bit lower, my s - “ 

Chopper’s yelp that he should probably be the one to address Luffy’s half-question is abruptly interrupted by the swordsman exploding from his chair, his face now nearly crimson, and tossing the loudly protesting captain over his shoulder unceremoniously. Luffy has barely time to grab his hat that was knocked down in the process and he’s being carried out of the dining room. 

“Oi, Zoro! Zorooooo, put me down! I haven’t finished eating yet! There’s still meat left! And Zoro’s gatta eat too! And there’s sake!” 

None of his arguments works, and soon Luffy finds himself being dropped onto the sofa in their quarters, the door shut closed. Luffy pouts, mentally checking all the dishes he has seen on the table but hasn’t managed to try yet; Zoro sure has some explaining to do because why did he take him away from the dining room? However, Luffy figures out that since the door is kind of blocked by Zoro, who doesn’t look like moving, he might as well ask the swordsman again. Something in his heart needs to tell Zoro everything right now, and Luffy’s instincts have never been wrong. 

“So, I was saying, there’s this weird thing my heart does..has been doing for some time. Maybe I should ask Chopper, but asking Zoro feels right-er?” Luffy waves his hand, listing the tiny doctor as a second-to-go if this...whatever he’s doing doesn’t lead anywhere, scratches his head, the button on the sofa suddenly more interesting than anything else in the room, and continues: “Everytime..back as Rusukaina, sometimes I talked to Zoro - in my dreams. And after I did so, my heart started to pound a lot, almost like gear second lot, and it was kinda painful but also really warm? I tried to explain to Rayleigh but I couldn’t…” 

Luffy falls silent, and when there’s no answer coming, he looks up. Zoro is leaning against the wall, his eye closed, the blush lighter but still there, making the a prominent scowl on the swordsman’s face less menacing. The older pirate stays quiet, and despite him never being a man of many words, for reasons unknown it’s really irritating now. 

“I talked to all my nakama, almost every night, but I saw the Dream-Zoro the most? I liked it at first because it was fun but then I didn’t because whatever Dream-Zoro said it wasn’t real and it only made me feel worse when I woke up and had a weird feeling in my stomach? Ace once said something about butterflies but when I ate one I didn’t really feel anything,” Luffy shrugs and pushes the memory aside; it isn’t the right time to start about  _ that _ . “I looked everywhere, searched and shouted but Zoro wasn’t there and I knew it was my decision but without Zor- hhfn - ” 

Luffy is suddenly interrupted by a rough, calloused hand covering his eyes, knocking the strawhat off his head for the second time today, and by surprisingly soft lips pressing into his own. Before he can do anything else than processing what has been his very first kiss, Luffy finds himself in a bone-crushing hug, Zoro’s head buried in the crook of his neck, the green hair tickling him. This time he smells like warm sun and sea water and sake and adventure and  _ home _ , and Luffy can feel everything aligning  _ right.  _ The heart in the chest pressed into him is beating wildly, mirroring Luffy’s own. 

“Oi, Luffy...you never know when to shut the hell up,” Zoro snorts into the rubbery skin. “Idiot. I love you too.”

**Author's Note:**

> The original prompt was 'little/grand gesture' and it's pretty obvious which part was inspired by it xD  
> I had lotsa fun writing this, I hope you enjoyed it too!  
> The word count is totally coincidental. 
> 
> Kudos and comments are always welcome <3


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